US stocks ended mostly higher today, with the S&P 500 closing at a record on Apple's bullish results, though Boeing weighed on the Dow and conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip kept the broader market's gains in check. Biotech stocks ranked among the day's biggest gainers, boosted by some strong results and drug trial data. The Nasdaq Biotech index jumped 2.2 percent in its fourth straight day of gains. Updated 5 Years ago

Colombian electricity firm Celsia is eyeing a potential purchase of power generating assets outside its home market, management said Wednesday during Celsia's 2Q14 conference call. Specifically, Celsia is looking at conventional and unconventional generating assets in Chile, Panama, Guatemala and Mexico. The firm expects to make an announcement regarding a potential acquisition by the end of this year, the firm's management added. Updated 5 Years ago

BHP Billiton reported a 1.8% increase in copper output in its fourth fiscal quarter to 470,000t from 461,700t a year ago. For BHP's 2014 fiscal year ended June 30, copper output was up 2.2%, to 1.73Mt, the company said in itsproduction report. Updated 5 Years ago

South Korea's economy grew 0.6 percent in April-June over the previous quarter, the central bank estimated on Thursday, the slowest in more than a year due to sluggish consumption while falling slightly below market expectations. The data follows 0.9 percent growth for the first quarter on a sequential basis and marks the weakest since a 0.6 percent gain in the first quarter of 2013. The median forecast from a Reuters survey of 27 analysts was 0.7 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Updated 5 Years ago

A change to Hong Kong’s real estate investment trust rule may free HK$34 billion ($4.4 billion) for property development and rebuilding, according to Victor Yeung, who runs Admiral Investment Ltd. that invests in REITs. Of the amount, HK$27 billion could come from trusts with Hong Kong assets, Yeung, a former managing director at LaSalle Investment Management, said in an e-mail response yesterday. Hong Kong-based Admiral is seeking $200 million for a fund to invest in regional REITs. Updated 5 Years ago

Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM), Australia’s largest gold producer, flagged another writedown for its Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea, a legacy of a $9 billion takeover labeled one of the industry’s worst. A charge of as much as A$2.5 billion ($2.4 billion), mainly for Lihir, which is contained within an extinct volcano crater, would follow the $5.7 billion writedown in 2013 that triggered a record loss, a regulatory inquiry and a boardroom clean out. Updated 5 Years ago

China's manufacturing activity grew at its fastest pace in 18 months in July, an initial survey by HSBC showed, the latest in a series of signs that the country's economy may be stabilising. The bank's purchasing managers' index (PMI), a gauge of the sector's health, rose to 52 in July, from 50.7 in June. Updated 5 Years ago

Chinese police said on Wednesday they have detained five people connected with a Shanghai-based food supplier alleged by the authorities to have sold expired and rotten meat to major fast food chains including KFC and McDonalds. Shanghai Husi Food is a unit of US-owned OSI Group, and among those held is the head of the company and a quality supervisor, Reuters says referring to a police statement. Updated 5 Years ago

Bitcoin’s latest expansion is into commercial airspace after Latvian airline airBaltic announced customers can start using bitcoins to pay for tickets. AirBaltic is the first airline to offer a bitcoin payment option. “Introducing the bitcoin payment option is a part of our innovative approach to service with a central focus on our customer,” the airline’s CEO, Martin Gauss, said in a press statement. Updated 5 Years ago

If the standoff with Russia and the West reaches a point where the EU has to completely cut trade with Russia, oil prices could soar above $200 per barrel, sparking a global economic crisis, says Adam Slater, senior economist at Oxford Economics. Cutting off trade with Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter, would create a shortage in global energy supplies, which would have spillover effects into Europe, Slater told the Guardian. Updated 5 Years ago